Panasonic: Blu-ray will win by New Year's Day

  • By Michael Kanellos, News.com
  • Posted Oct 2, 2007 12:45 pm PT

Exec predicts PS3's hi-def format will defeat Microsoft-backed HD DVD in next-gen disc format war.

From News.com

CHIBA, Japan--The decisive battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD is at hand, says a prominent Panasonic exec.

Blu-ray manufacturers are going to start cutting prices and go out on a promotional binge this holiday season, Matsushita Electric Industrial's Kazuhiro Tsuga said during a briefing with reporters at Ceatec, a large tech trade show that started here Tuesday. At Matsushita, which is best known for its Panasonic brand name, Tsuga is an executive officer who oversees networking efforts, some home electronics technologies and overseas labs, and other areas.

By the end of the Christmas season or the end of the first quarter, the writing will be on the wall. The format war in earnest may last only another year, he predicted.

"The BD (Blu-ray disc) companies will try to do our best to promote Blu-ray," he said. "The studios want us to put money in to promote it."

He added: "By the end of the year, you will see good products with very good promotion."

The Blu-ray coalition is also working on ways to cut the price of slim Blu-ray drives and recorders to allow the technology to infiltrate notebooks and PCs.

And wouldn't you know it--Matsushita has new Blu-ray players on the way. The three models will handle 18 hours of full-HD programs on a dual-layer disc and will go on sale November 1 in Japan, according to Reuters.

Tsuga's no fan of combo players that conjoin Blu-ray and HD DVD features. Last year, he called the idea "stupid, stupid." He pretty much repeated the comment this year and said that Matsushita still has no plans for such a device.

He downplayed Paramount Pictures' commitment to release movies on HD DVD exclusively, saying it only lasts for 18 months, and argues that studios are going with HD DVD "because big money came" to them. (Microsoft, Toshiba, and Intel are the main backers of HD DVD.)

359 Comments

  • themush72

    Posted Oct 4, 2007 12:40 pm PT

    Just give me an LG combo player and let's forget about this.

  • KhanhAgE

    Posted Oct 4, 2007 6:15 am PT

    Well, in Australia there is only one HD format to chose from. Blu-ray. HD-DVD is pretty much non-existence. You can buy HD-DVD products but they're very slim in terms of choice compare to the Blu-ray offering. I guess the HD-DVD marketing group just didn't give a s@#$ about the Oceania region (like most other thing). Whatever. I like Blu-ray better anyway.

  • GKBeetle

    Posted Oct 4, 2007 5:05 am PT

    I think the people who are saying that the war is almost over are full of it. Regular DVDs still outsell HDDVD and Blu-Ray by a ton. The technology is still extremely young and it will be years before either becomes preferred over regular DVDs. In the meantime, some other technology could come out that is cheap and blows them both out of the water. There's a format skirmish right now, but definetly not a war yet.
    On a side note, it really sucks that the best reason to get a PS3 so far is that it's the cheapest Blu-Ray Player. Sony better come out with some good exclusives soon or I'm gonna be pissed.

  • Silicon_Noob

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:02 pm PT

    I could really see this coming a mile away. In Australia blu-ray is found everywhere but you have to look pretty hard to find displays of hddvd.

  • MetalZombieII

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 6:34 pm PT

    People need to stop brining up HVD yes it has been proven that on the high end it has a capacity of 3.9 TB, but here is the current down side...

    Holographic drives are going to initially cost around US$15,000, and a single disc around US$120 - $180, although prices are expected to fall steadily. The market for this format is not initially the common consumer, but enterprises with very large storage needs.

    It will be a couple of years before this will be any where near cheap enough for the common consumer.

  • comit2000

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 5:34 pm PT

    I see your point grim but blu-ray is going to win so it's nice to be on the winning wagon if you catch my drift.

  • GrimBee

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 4:02 pm PT

    Panasonic really need to make HDDVD players. Don't they realise that SONY will be their competitors??

    I mean - the PS3 is being sold as a bluray player - infact, cheaper than a bluray player. This makes people buy LESS panasonic stuff.

    Which would you buy - A sony bluray player, or a panasonic bluray player (both costing the same).
    I would go for the player which is the most official one - I.E - The ones who make the discs.

    Guaranteed that mostly the best selling bluray players will be sony, because it is their technology.

    Best selling camcorders which use those sony tapes? You got it - Sony cameras...

    Best Selling bluray player? The ps3.

    Panasonic will have a hard time trying to thwart the ps3, and sony's very own players.
    Sony's aim is to develop hardware surrounding their own media formats.
    For years Sony have made units which play media formats from rival companies.

    But Sony have always tried to make their own media format. Betamax, Minidisc, Memorystick, UMD and now bluray.
    If bluray succeeds - alot of companies won't have much of a chance to exist alongside sony.

    This is why alot of these formats have slumped over the years - companies find it hard to out-sell sony products made for the very same media format.
    More people bought Sony brand minidisc walkmans, etc etc.

    Same with memorystick - but companies now use SD cards more than memorysticks - and you will notice that those units sell more than sony units.

    But when sony makes a sony media format - the best selling hardware which plays those formats is a sony brand unit.

    Panasonic are fools to believe that they can out-sell sony's products. At least if they had a HDDVD player out - they would have the chance to grow as an independent player.

    Sony can change things around with the media format, and have their hardware match those changes via firmwares. Panasonic will always be several steps behind sony.

    If they made a HDDVD player - at least Panasonic can out-sell toshiba players. Because toshiba is not a household name like Sony is.

    When you have SONY on the disc, the consumer naturally wants a sony player.
    But when you have DVD or HDDVD - average consumers get what player suits them - toshiba is hardly anywhere to be seen on the HDDVD format.

  • Agermemnon

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:45 pm PT

    @FallenOneX lol yeah you remember that donkey , now blu-ray needs a salesman like the one and only TRIP HAWKINS .

  • Agermemnon

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:36 pm PT

    @weiners what are you on about ? half a year later and dumbed down UT ? you need to check news dear boy lol and paying 900 for stuff you get for 600 on ps3 ? what are you WAFFLING about , oh and i wasn't asking you the question was before was i ? lol fanboys pffff kids lol

  • alldaelong

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:34 pm PT

    It's simple, whoever gets lower wins. I saw HD-DVD players with 1080i output for $249 this weekend and $347 for 1080p(http://www.hhgregg.com/ProductDetail.asp?SID=9978AC344D5F4395AAE46F4B11E679C4&ProductID=19682). The samsung blu-ray player was $499(http://www.hhgregg.com/ProductDetail.asp?SID=9978AC344D5F4395AAE46F4B11E679C4&ProductID=19727). The sony blu-ray player $449 (http://www.hhgregg.com/ProductDetail.asp?SID=9978AC344D5F4395AAE46F4B11E679C4&ProductID=19277)

  • VolcanoMan001

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:09 pm PT

    Well, the reality is that Microsoft could care less which one wins. Sure, they would prefer HD-DVD to win so as they will not have to pay Sony to include a Blu-Ray drive in the next Xbox, but they intentionally avoided the whole conflict altogether from the beginning. In the end it might prove a wise choice given the amount of money being lost on the price reduction of each PS3.

    Two years from now, both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will still be around and the next Xbox will include one of those two drives. Most likely it will be the former, and at that point in time the real "war" will begin (for no other reason than because the technology for HDTV and the drives themselves will be at such a point that "average Joe" can afford them). But to even say that it is a "war" at this point when DVD outsells both by something like 1000:1 is like calling a football game after the first minute of the first quarter of play. Apparently the people behind these stories have vested interests and they like to perpetuate myths.

  • lamprey263

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 3:07 pm PT

    I could care less about Blu-ray or HD-DVD when it comes to movies, but I do think video games can benefit the most from the large storage device, so in that regards, I support Blu-Ray. Who knows, maybe the next Xbox will have a Blu-ray drive if they're cheap enough by then.

  • Eclipse_ShinRa

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:53 pm PT

    I don't get how ppl can bring up 360 vs PS3 here anyways.. DVDs are just fine in my book and I don't mind getting 2disk.. I like 2 disk anyways.. One for the movie and other for extra footage.

    Fanboys need to play games, and worry about movies.. Unless you love movies and buy movies like I buy games.. Then you shouldn't care who wins..

    Its not like if Blu-Ray loses, you won't get any games.

  • moocow21

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:42 pm PT

    Man I hope he's right. I don't have anything against HD-DVD (or Blu-Ray), but I just want one to win outright and fast (right now it looks like Blu-Ray is closer, so I'm pulling for them because I just want it to end) so I can make a safe step into an HD format.

  • SageAnomie

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:24 pm PT

    BaronPwent it does not matter if the formats have already ben surpassed. The key is breaking into the consumer industry with affordability. Sure we can have terabyte disc, but whats the point if there is no there is no base of consumers to go for it. For now the point is to push the HD era which should have been adopted in to society a while ago. So until that happens these to formats will be pushed no matter what kind of better technologie progresses.

  • BaronPwent

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:12 pm PT

    Honestly both formats are pretty much doomed. The technology has already progressed beyond blu-ray to the point where terabyte discs may soon be in reach. Its like investing in betamax or vhs knowing that dvd's are about to become the new standard.

    Not that any of this is really needed in the realm of movies. Dvd's are more then sufficient for any movie and the very concept of physical media is being challenged by the availability of internet downloads and streaming movies.

  • FallenOneX

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:12 pm PT

    I'm not going to take tech advice from the maker of the 3DO, thanks.

  • manolobrown2

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:47 pm PT

    I don't care about any of this I can play both!

  • ChickenHounk911

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:43 pm PT

    How do people come up with PS3 vs. 360 when this article is about HD HDHD vs. Blu Ray. Fanboys are LAME! Anyway, in this war, the winner will be the format with the most movies or the better selection of movies. Not space, are you kidding me? Even with current-gen DVD's that come with the "bonus disc", who actually sits there for the 10+ hours of extra footage?! Now they are talking about 50 gigs of space for a movie? yikes! I wont live long enough to watch all the new releases plus the 30+ hours of bonus footage!

  • Eclipse_ShinRa

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:37 pm PT

    You fanboys are funny.. If Sony didn't add Blu-Ray or was for Blu-Ray. You wouldn't give a -__ about it..

    You only care because you fanboys.. I beat half of you that are saying Blu-Ray is better doesn't even own a HD-DVD tv or seen a Blu-Ray movie, unless you watch on SDTV.

    Fanboys stay out the movie wars danm, half of you don't care. It's bad that consol wars. We don't need to into this..

    DVD is better.. Because HD-DVD and Blu-Ray aren't that great.. Yea some movies look good but its not that big of jump.

    How many times have ppl said''HD DVD will be dead next month or next year?'' I swear if you guys think HD-DVD is dead.. Then you are fools..

    I'm not taking Blu-Rays side, but it's PS3 fans I see the most in this most talking trash about HD DVD.. When half of you that do, don't even own a HD TV or whatever. I bet you guys don't even buy many movies yet your posting crap.

    Your just in this war, because system fanboys((that goes for 360 owners as well)). This war is stupid..

  • Salith

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:18 pm PT

    Wow I was hoping this article was actually about statistics not some crazy guy trying to make excuses about Paramount goin HD-DVD... ok so about two months ago Blu-Ray was winning but now it seems more even I have a HD-DVD player and really I want this to end. Blu-Ray holds more but costs more money to produce the movies on it... HD holds less, but in turn costs less to produce in single format (those stupid dual DVD/HD formats are more expensive) so once again kinda even either way the movies are really expensive so I want this war to end so I know that by purchasing a $30 movie it won't end up as a somewat waste

  • themush72

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:02 pm PT

    Chamber303, I think you will find that BluRay has also been hacked, there are plenty of them available on torrent sites so someone must be ripping them. As for hd-dvd vs BluRay I really don't care which one wins as long as they get it done quickly....and all this talk of huge storage being an important factor (in favour of BluRay) doesnt make sense for Films anyway, surely there is a point where increasing bitrate makes no discernable difference unless you are watching it on a 100" plasma? And the studios aren't going to put 16 hours or more of extras on a disc either are they?
    The only use I can see for the extra storage would be for games but surely 20 gig is enough for this generation of games.

  • ashuncc2

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:55 pm PT

    Microsoft, Toshiba, and Intel are some pretty big names backing HD DVD. I personally purchased an HD DVD player and still feel somewhat confident in my purchase. The big guys aren't going to allow their baby to go down without some effort/fight.

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:44 pm PT

    I would have jumped in the format war a long time ago if the movies were cheaper. I haven't checked out the latest prices for HD movies. What is it like now? I can't buy movies for $24 a pop. That's almost $100 for 4 movies that I will probably watch once or maybe twice.

  • jbot666

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:41 pm PT

    Blu Ray is a smart choice; with a lower price I could see this happening.

  • chamber303

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:39 pm PT

    mark_unix

    played warhawk yet?

    sick game dude.

  • DaMastaGangsta

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:36 pm PT

    like phaserde already sad.. what is the use of all that extra storage?? for know i think normal dvds are doing more than just fine.. with BR and HDDVD the concept of the medium stays pretty much the same (instead of going from vhs (analog) to dvd (digital).. its just like always "a little better than before"

    and i really don’t think blu ray is in our best interest, since it is and probably keep on being the more expensive disc (simply because it costs more to produce).. Which doesn’t have that much more to offer than hd dvd has.. either way its just a political issue, ending with the biggest support etc etc. in which pure quality might be an important factor but it will never be THE key.

    personally i would like to see blu ray fail, just to laugh a little more @ sony, being those arrogant fools all the time haha

  • mark_unix

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:29 pm PT

    200billion dollars in blu-ray support vs 20billion behind hd-dvd...

  • chamber303

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:16 pm PT

    tripple layers?
    common people, that will not happen. The more layers you put on a disk the more quality you loose.
    Media will not go more than DL for ever, unless a new media comes up that does not use optics. This may happen in 10 to 15 years from now and even then, it will be in test stages.
    This means that BD will always be superior than HD-DVD and the funny thing is that HD-DVD has already been hacked. Well I guess tha's MS for you man. BD on the other hand is secure and better.
    I guess HD-DVD and MS (360) fans want good for cheap.
    besides, in the begining, they said that BD's were more expensive because of a newer and more advanced process of making the disks. Now that both medias are at the same price it would make BD cheaper right?
    I say sell your 360 and HD-DVD and go with PS3 and BD.

  • phaserde

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:10 pm PT

    Hey theKey....

    The world is obviously not ready for HVD's. Can you possibly imagine how much that technology would cost? Besides there isnt even the slightest need for that much capacity. The only thing it's going are data tapes and tthings like that that companies use to back up daily data. That technology is not going to be needed by the masses for another 20 years. Think about it, the brand new Ipod touches only come with 16 GB's of storage (which is 14 gigs more than the average person even has) I have yet to hit 75% capacity of my 20 gig which has about 3 thousand songs on it...To this day i come across songs on it ive never heard before lol.. so what are people really gunna do with 3 terabytes. I mean really. HD Movies as we know only need 20 gigs or less. so I mean the only other use of a disc that size would be to be able to put a whole series like sienfeld on one disk lol. I dont think we'll be hearing from HVD for a looooooooooooooong time.

  • sphinx-shadow

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:58 am PT

    i hope blu-ray wins but i still have not won so i can just hope.

  • bethodman

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:46 am PT

    have u people read the article? its about bluray and hddvd not console wars I think its dumb how people fight over consoles.

  • toonamil

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:43 am PT

    You know who's really win? The DVD.

  • dr_jashugan

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:42 am PT

    I'm still standing on the side line, waiting for the Format War winner to appear.

  • meneger

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:22 am PT

    solaris1979, are you mad? PGR, Forza, Saints Row, Dead or Alive4, Viva Pinata, need i say more. All great games and not FPS.

  • mastercortana

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:20 am PT

    "He downplayed Paramount Pictures' commitment to release movies on HD DVD exclusively, saying it only lasts for 18 months"

    Does he realize that 18 months will last longer than longer than the time between now and xmas or the beginning of the first quarter.

  • meneger

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:14 am PT

    chamber303 there is no reason to buy PS3. As a games console (which is the main thing) it is very poor. Xbox 360 has already got better games and a greater established consumer base worldwide therefore more great games will continue to pour out on the 360. NND1 nicely put.

  • ccputgat2m

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 11:09 am PT

    whoooo hooooo. just imagine how awesome Lair 2 will be when its on blu-ray and cant be on HD DVD.

    MS has egg all over its face

  • solaris1979

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:36 am PT

    and @ thekey... HVD hmm... yeah sure, if i can dish out 10 grands (if that cheap) for the drive and another grand or so for the disk, I would more then welcome it for my setup. Until more companies are willing to standardize the system for home use, it's as close to you as the next fuel cell car you would buy.

  • Latinbro1

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:35 am PT

    When it comes to games I still wonder if BD or HD are really necessary. MGS1 was on two discs, RE4 on the WIi was two discs, every FF VII through IX were on 3 and four discs, Fear effect 1 and 2 were each on 4 discs. However, I did start thinking of particular games like sports and racing games. We'll we get to the point were sport games will require more than 10 gbs worth of memory? If so, how inconvenient would it be then to have the madden modes split in two discs, or be dumb down to fit on one regular DVD? I don't know about resolution that much but my understanding is that DVD can't really hold Hi-def info. So, I guess that having games in true HD, as opposed to upscaling them from a lower resolution, would need one of the two Hi Def formats.

  • solaris1979

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:28 am PT

    name a few game on 360 that isn't on other system and isn't fps. and you would end up with pretty bad selection. 360 can only hang on with FPS genre, and that's why the console suffers in other countries. Games Games, yeah i hear ya, that's why I don't buy game for 360 anymore.

  • mrkame16

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:18 am PT

    @agermemnon
    lmao......good one!! the xb360 is clearly in the lead with better games. and thats what counts Games!!! Games!!! and more Games!!

  • VolcanoMan001

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:14 am PT

    What the article does not say is that at the same time ( JAN '08 ) HD-DVD players will be at your local Wal-mart and it too will be at a discouted price. So "RIP" is going to be wishful thinking (just like how it was wishful thinking that Blu-Ray was supposed to "mop up" all HD-DVD remnants by Christmas 07). But they can keep up the spin with articles like this.

  • Pudgieluv

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:04 am PT

    R.I.P. HD-DVD...muahahahaha...... MAUAHUAHAUHAUHUA!

  • YourDaddy88

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:02 am PT

    R.I.P. HD-DVD...muahahahaha

  • Pudgieluv

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:59 am PT

    Sorry here is the proof !

    http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/
    2007/07/12/all-116-million-xbox-360s-are-faulty

    Cut and paste and read away xbots !

  • Thigeic

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:55 am PT

    weiners, how can you say the X360 will have a dumb down version of UT3? Do you know how that game will be for the 360? I havent heard anything about it atleast. And whatever consol it comes for. Ill get it for the PC

  • thekey

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:53 am PT

    xophaser "DVD was a huge technical leap over VHS. No rewinding and tape degrading, plus DVD had menu. HD-DVD and Blu-ray has a lesser technological impact. 50gb vs 8.5gb. Too bad Moore's law doesn't include storage. I guess blu-ray was made for HDTV, which looks great."

    HVD is a huge leap from Blu-ray/HD DVD, they can hold 3.9 TB(A single layer of HVD can hold 120, 000 GB of information)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc

    I'm telling you all these things are going to take every media out.

    SporkFireXPS "It doesn't matter anyways because Blu-ray is not going to take out DVD"

    That reminds me about all the people who said "DVD won't take out VHS".

    I never heard that one before. I knew that VHS would get taken out by DVD. And anyways I only made that statment because DVD's sell too well, and DVD and Blu-ray while being a big leap isn't as huge of a leap as VHS and DVD. But HVD is a huge over Blu-ray in both quality and capacity.

  • Olly464

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:47 am PT

    If I can I buy all my movies in blu-ray now, because they're not that much more expensive then DVDs and their much better quality and have loads more extras! I mean, just watch casino royale or 300 on blu-ray....

  • Thigeic

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:44 am PT

    The new ROM disc has a three-layer structure, with each layer storing 17GB of data. The advances capacity over current ROM discs, which hold 15GB of data in each layer of a single-sided disc. Continued improvement in disc mastering technology has achieved further minimization in the recording pit, supporting a further boost in capacity to 17GB in single layer and a full 51GB on a single-sided triple-layer disc. Toshiba has confirmed the disc structure and its successful operation.

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